Man and Wife, as with so much nineteenth century fiction, was initially written and published in serial form with the first instalment appearing in 1870. The novel's intricate, page-turning plot was much admired by contemporary readers and reviewers. However, Collins' deeper purpose, that of attacking the cult of athleticism and, crucially, the institution of marriage, was not appreciated. Collins, who himself never married but enjoyed two long-term relationships, sometimes concurrently, was an unorthodox figure in a society which believed entirely in the sanctity of marriage.
Wilkie Collins Views on Marriage
That Collins had an ulterior motive when writing Man and Wife is made clear by the author himself in the preface. Stating that 'the fiction is founded on facts,' he outlines his purpose of exposing the 'scandalous condition of the Marriage Laws of the United Kingdom'. This includes domestic abuse, the lack of married women's property rights and the less well-known problem of 'Irregular Marriages in Scotland'.
The Plot of Man and Wife
The main plot of Man and Wife centres around an engaged couple, Arnold and Blanche, and the villainous Geoffrey Delamayn whose base deception of Anne Silvester forms the catalyst for narrative development. As the virtuous Arnold attempts to help Anne in her quest to wring the truth from Geoffrey, it is feared that he may have inadvertently married her. The idea sounds far-fetched but the reader is assured of the verity of the possibility by the appendix.
A sub-plot featuring the strange Hester Dethridge is further evidence of Wilkie Collins stance on the precarious position of women in society. The old cook's strange behaviour is explained when she reveals her history as a woman trapped in an abusive marriage.
The Characters in Man and Wife
The new craze for 'muscular cultivation' is a new 'national eccentricity' attacked with vehemence by Collins in his portrayal of Geoffrey Delamayn. Whilst the portrayal of vulnerable women unprotected by law and society seems reasonable and just to today's reader, Collins' rather frenzied views of athleticism may, in contrast, appear eccentric.
In the context of 21st century society where healthy living and exercise are considered the norm, or at the very least, aspirational, the reader may find little to criticise in Geoffrey's strict adherence to diet and 'muscular cultivation'. However, Collins believed there existed 'a connection between the recent unbridled development of physical cultivation in England, and the recent spread of grossness and brutality.' In this vein, therefore, Collins develops the character of Geoffrey Delamayn, thereby making him the target for both his attach on marriage and athleticism.
Man and Wife may not rank amongst his most commercially successful novels, The Woman and White and The Moonstone, but it is certainly a highly readable, absorbing novel for its exciting plot as well as its exposure of legal anomalies.
Man and Wife, by Wilkie Collins, first published in 1870.
This edition in Oxford World's Classics, ISBN 0 19 283146 1
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